Base-ball mitt.



T. D. HOOPER, Jn.

BASE BALL MITT. APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 13, 1912.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

I Harney QOLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

narran s'rnfrns rnraivr ormoni.A

THOMAS D. HOOPER, JR., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NOR TO GEORGE A. REACH, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BASE-:BALL MITT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1 7, 1914.

Application le. February 13, 1912. Serial No. 677,380.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs D. Hoornn, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Base-Ball Mitts, of which the following is 'a specification.

My invention relates to base ball mitts.

The object of my invention is to produce a base ball` mitt in which the tendency of the back piece to split at the crotch between the body portion and the thumb portion is obviated.

A further object thereof is to provide a longitudinal and transverse reinforcement for the back of a mitt of said character by which the tensile and lateral strain on the fabric of which the same is made which occurs in use is overcome to prevent the splitting of the parts between the thumb and body portion thereof.

To these ends, my invention includes the combinations and arrangement of component parts to be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention in which like reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure l is a back view of a base ball mitt containing my improvement; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View of the same taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a back View of a modified form of my invention.

Referring now to the drawings, l indicates the front or palm portion of a mitt and 2 the back thereof of iiexible fabric which as shown are shaped to form the main body portion 3 and the thumb 4 between which occurs the crotch 5.

Suitable padding material 6 is carried between the front and back, and the front is turned back over the edge of said padding and is united to the back by a seam of stitching 7 or by lacing as preferred. On the back 2 of the mitt is stitched the hand piece 8 by which the padded mitt structure is secured upon the hand of the wearer. The front or palm port-ion l may be provided with a web or tabs 9 and 10 between the main body portion and the thumb portion adapted to be laced together through eyelets therein to hold the same in desired adjustment. v

For the purpose of reinforcing the fabric ofthe back portion at the crotch 5 to sustain the strain which there occurs by the spreading of the thumb portion 4 and the main portion 3, and also for the purpose of taking up what may be termed the tensile strain or the tug on the fabric between the h and piece 8 and the palm portion, I provide a longitudinal strip ll, which as shown is stitched at one end to the back piece 2 at the crotch 5 between the main portion 3 and the thumb 4 by the transverse seam of stitching 7 by which the palm and back portions of the mitt are united. Said strip extends from said crotch across the back of the mitt to or beyond the hand piece 8 and is stitched thereto and to the back ofthe mitt by the line of stitching l2 by which the hand piece is secured upon the back. As shown in Fig. l of the drawings, the edges of the strip 1l may be bound to prevent fraying.

In the modified form of my invention shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the strip ll is stitched across the crotch 5 by t-he stitching 7 and is secured upon the back 2 of the mitt by the parallel longitudinal rows of stitching 13 adjacent to its longitudinal edges as well as by the stitching 7.

In the construction thus described, it will be apparent that the longitudinal strip ll will reinforce the fabric of the back of the mitt at its weakest point against the strain due to the spreading of the mitt at the crotch 5 to prevent ripping or tearing, and likewise reinforce or sustain the strain caused by the insertion of the hand of the wearer in the hand piece and the pressure 'of a ball when caught in flight upon the fabric of the mitt.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to be Letters Patent, is-

In a base ball mitt, the combination with a main body portion and a thumb portion comprising a front and a back portion of iexible fabric and a hand piece secured on secured by the back thereof, of a strip having one end signed my name to this application in the stitched to the front and back portions at presence of two subscribing Witnesses. the crotch between the thumb and body portions and secured upon the back portion and THOMAS D HOOPER JR 5 to the hand piece of the mitt, substantially Vitnesses:

as described. J OHN GAMBLE,

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto R. F. NIXON, J1.

Copies c! thm patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commiunioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

